Christian Aid Mission, a Protestant organization based in Virginia, is reporting that thousands of Syrian refugees are converting to Christianity in Turkey, Lebanon, and Iraq.
“Literally thousands of Syrians from traditional Muslim backgrounds are turning to Jesus Christ,” the organization stated. “It’s not an inflating of the numbers, nor is it an optimistic estimate.”
And, here is the full story at Christian Aid Mission, let’s hope their conversion is legitimate. Christian groups like this one—doing the hard work around the world rather than advocating for the third world to come to America—are to be encouraged in my view.
For new readers, those advocating (lobbying!) to bring the third world here are the federal refugee contractorsrepresenting some mainstream churches in America.
Syria’s leading Catholic prelate has voiced misgivings about refugee programs that are helping Christian families from Syria resettle in the West, saying that it is better if they remain in the Middle East.
Melkite Catholic Patriarch Gregory III Laham, who doubles as president of the Syrian bishops’ conference, said that the flight of Syrian refugees threatens to aggravate the overall exodus of Christians from the Middle East. “The danger is that if they leave the Middle East, they will never go back,” he said.
The Melkite Patriarch said that he could readily sympathize with the Christians who choose to leave the region. “Of course, we cannot decide for ourselves what response our people should make,” he acknowledged, adding that “the suffering is great.”
However, Patriarch Gregory suggested that aid programs should concentrate on helping people to remain near their homes. “It is better to help the people within the country or the region, and not invite them to go outside,” he said. “There is more that can be done locally,” he said.
Agreed! But, unfortunately then the US refugee resettlement contractorswho are being paid by the head and doing the UN’s business will be happy to bring more Muslims to America and that includes among them the US Conference of Catholic Bishops!
Addendum: Check out this useful world map of countries where Christians are being persecuted.
It would be so much less confusing if they would just drop the word “Christian” from their masthead don’t you think!
The mainstream media drumbeat is well underway!
Noticeably absent from this editorial from last week, however, is any mention of “Christians!” The publication also suggests that Obama relax security screening that had been put in place after 911.
Demonstrating a complete misunderstanding of refugee resettlement in America (or is it an effort to mislead us) the CSMsays this:
“It is time for Europe and the United States to be a safety valve and accept many more Syrians for temporary asylum.”
There is NO temporary asylum in America. Refugees are permanently resettled in the US. As a matter of fact, we received a comment recently where a reader assumed that refugees come here temporarily until their homeland is secure again. NO!
Longtime readers know we have another immigration loophole called ‘Temporary Protected Status (TPS)‘ which is for those from certain designated countries who were in the US (visiting, on student visas, etc) when the problem happened back home—a civil war or natural disaster—who are supposedly allowed to stay only until the status is removed. Syrians already in the US are now eligible for that program. However, even when the trouble back home is solved, most of those on TPS NEVER leave, just ask the Salvadorans! There are NO temporary refugees, so why the CSM editor says such a thing is beyond me!
Here is moreof what the CSM says—to show our gratitude to certain Middle Eastern countries we need to take twelve thousand or so chosen by the UN! (and skip the security screening!):
The UN wants 30,000 of Syria’s most vulnerable refugees – mainly women and children – to be taken in by the US and Europe. About 20 countries in Europe plan to accept 18,000 Syrians. For now, however, the Obama administration has committed to resettling only “several thousand” Syrians.
One problem for the US is that post-9/11 laws make it difficult to screen asylum seekers from Muslim countries. The laws were designed to make sure terrorists don’t slip through. More than 135,000 Syrian refugees have applied for asylum. Last year, only a few dozen were allowed into the US. The Obama administration has legal ways to overcome the bureaucratic hurdles and begin granting far more temporary visas. [There are no temporary refugees!—ed]
The US has called on Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon to keep their borders open. For both humanitarian and security reasons – and out of gratitude to those countries – the US must now also open its border to the huddled masses of Syrian refugees.
For security reasons? Now what the heck does that mean? Surely they don’t mean we have to take them to keep them from becoming terrorists!
The talking points have gone out! The UN wants the US to take 12,000 this year, the contractors want it too. Will Obama do it—legally he can!
It was a trial that riveted readers of The Salt Lake Tribune for the last couple of weeks, but barely made news outside of Utah. Esar Met, a Burmese Muslim man, was arrested in 2008 for the brutal sexual assault and murder of a 7-year-old Burmese girl in their Salt Lake City apartment building. A jury found him guilty yesterday.
Met had only been in the US one month and had been assigned to live in a building filled with fellow Burmese, but they were all Christians and roommates described the tension that created among them. They had lived in separate parts of the camp in Thailand.
Hser Ner Moo’s father Cartoon Wah (right) said after the verdict: “My only daughter is still no more.” http://www.ksl.com/?sid=22985680
He lured the child with games and treats. He made her laugh, helped her feel safe and welcome in the depths of his basement home.
But on March 31, 2008, a jury ruled Friday, kindness turned to violence as Esar Met sexually assaulted, beat and killed 7-year-old Hser Ner Moo.
Jurors entered the courtroom Friday after more than five hours of deliberation looking haggard and spent. They had sat through nine days of testimony, 41 witnesses and more than two hours of closing arguments that morning.
Two female jurors held tissues at the ready. Their eyes looked as if they had already been crying.
In the gallery, packed with friends and family of the young victim, a tense silence filled the air, punctuated only by the quiet sobs of Pearlly Wa — the mother who lost her only daughter nearly six years ago.
Met was convicted of child kidnapping and aggravated murder, both first-degree felonies that could land the 27-year-old Burmese refugee in prison for the rest of his life.
[….]
He had been in the country just one month, and would spend the next six years behind bars awaiting trial.
He could get 20 years to life when he is sentenced in May. Scary thought that he could ever be released. And, too bad for Utah taxpayers, maybe they should appeal to Congress for an extra stipend to pay for his trial and for the next 20 years of his life since it was the federal government—the US State Department and its contractors (Catholic Charities?)—that dumped him in Utah.
By the way, over the years The Salt Lake Tribune has acted like a real investigative news outlet, even sending a reporter to Thailand back in 2008. One thing reporter Julia Lyon learned is that Met was considered “not right” in the camp, so who decided he would be a good citizen of America?
For new readers, all of our previous coverage of the case, going back years, may be found by clicking here.
Syria’s growing number of refugees have found some unlikely champions in the form of British actors Emma Thompson and Colin Firth. The British Hollywood stars have demanded David Cameron offers a safe haven for those fleeing from the civil war that has engulfed the country for almost three years.
Other celebrities to sign a letter demanding action from Number 10 include Monty Python star Michael Palin, fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood, Firth’s wife Livia, artist Grayson Perry and actress Juliet Stevenson.
[….]
“We’re ashamed that Britain isn’t one of them [countries “welcoming” Syrians].
Actress Emma Thompson “ashamed” of the UK
They clearly don’t understand that there is nothing temporary about refugee resettlement via the UN.
“We’ve done it before, offering temporary resettlement places to Kosovan, Bosnian and Vietnamese people in their hour of greatest need.
As for “vulnerable” Syrians, as far as I can tell they don’t mention the word Christian.
One commenter tells us what the average citizen of the UK (or USA) is thinking—-how about if you rich celebrities take care of them yourselves!
Dibber D:
I doubt they will let them live in their own properties, pay for their clothes, bills and food, until they’re ready to put THEIR own money and properties where their mouths are i would suggest they stop flapping their gums.
Here is the report I saw first at Catholic Culture:
